SU065- T-43 Medium Tank

The heavy armour of the latest Soviet tank designs ensured that they made a major impact on the battlefield, even in the hands of the hastily-trained conscripts that were all that was available after the disasters of 1941.

When the Germans started fielding tanks armed with new long-barrelled 7.5cm guns, there was an urgent need for a better armoured and easier to use tank than the T-34 medium tank.

In June 1942, the GABTU (Main Directorate of Armoured Forces) ordered work to begin on two prototypes. The SKB 2 heavy tank design bureau in Chelyabinsk started the KV-13 program, which eventually became the IS-1 heavy tank.

The Morozov Design Bureau that had been responsible for the T-34, now working at the Uralvagonzavod complex, developed the T-43 based on the advanced T-34M project, which had been cancelled in 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR. The first prototype T-43 was finally completed in March 1943. Thicker armour means a heavier tank, so the designers made the tank as small as possible to minimise the amount of armour needed.

The bulky Christie suspension was dropped for a more space efficient torsion bar suspension, the engine was mounted transversely, and the turret was pushed as far forward on the hull as possible to shorten the crew compartment. The turret had a three-man crew and a cupola giving the commander all-round vision for the first time on a Soviet medium tank.